Zero Archive: Subject K2
by Xelrog
Summary: I am known as Zero, god of truth and passion. It is my mission to enlighten those who are lost to themselves by reawakening the passions that lay dormant in the heart of Man. To this end, I often employ disciples to aid me in the spreading of these virtues. These girls are no such disciples. Here, they are the heroes of the people. (WARNING: Adult content)
1. Introduction

The name of this subject is Kaoru Matsubara. 13 years old; skin, fair; hair, black. Although she is somewhat younger than my usual subjects, somehow or another, circumstances have led to a working relationship between us, also loosely involving her two superheroine friends. Be it through servitude or diplomacy, I am determined to share the virtues of truth and passion with the youth of this world with the aid of these… "Powerpuff Girls Z."


	2. Chapter 1: First Impressions

"Er… girls?"

The three heroines hovered, backs turned, huddled in an embarrassed, impromptu sort of rugby huddle that none of them were particularly comfortable having. When they had been summoned by the mayor to deal with a crisis, they obviously had not expected to be dealing with a naked man in the skies above Tokyo City.

" _We have to do_ _ **something!**_ _"_ one made the whispered argument.

" _If none of us turn around, he might fly off while we're not looking,"_ another said.

" _You have brothers, right? You're used to this sort of thing, so you should talk to him!"_ said a third.

" _What? That has nothing to do with this!"_

"Girls?" the man repeated. They paused, glanced back at him, once again turned bright red, and turned away. He looked them up and down intently. "Something here is so familiar, so universal," he speculated to himself. "You know, it's not often I find a world where people besides me are flying around. It's only happened a few times. And those colors…" His hand ventured to his chin. "Oh, what were they called?" Then he snapped his fingers. "Ah, that's right! Excuse me, but… do the names, 'Blossom,' 'Bubbles,' 'Buttercup' mean anything to you three?"

This elicited a reaction. All three turned around at once, obstinate.

"That's **Hyper** Blossom!"

" **Rolling** Bubbles!"

" **Powered** Buttercup! Get it right!"

Once again both parties locked gazes, one in fascination with this strange, semi-familiar trio of girls, and one in awkward realization of just how naked this man was. Once again, the girls were the first to break, turning away in embarrassment.

"Look, we're here because there was some kind of explosion over the city!" Blossom announced, back turned, arms waving frantically in nervous explanation.

"Explosion?" the man pondered. "Yes, that was me. Or, rather… that's just what happens when I enter a new world. Nothing to be alarmed about, it won't happen again."

He clearly wasn't bothered by the girls being bothered.

"Will you _please_ put on some clothes?!" Buttercup shouted impatiently.

" _Psst…_ " Bubbles whispered. " _Don't you think we should bring him back to the lab? What if he has something to do with the black particles?_ "

"Hmm… seems likely," Blossom assessed. "He _is_ up here flying, after all."

"What, you think some dark energy hit a nude beach or something?" sassed Buttercup.

"All right, listen, you're coming with us!" Blossom announced, all three girls turning to face their opponent. To their surprise, he had vanished.

"Damn! We lost him!" Buttercup cursed.

"I told you this might happen…" lamented Bubbles.

"Er, girls?"

" **Wah!** "

The girlz all reacted in surprise to the male voice behind them, and turned around in unison.

 **"WAH!"**

They turned around again when they realized that the man was still naked, and now even closer. He'd nearly given them a heart attack, suddenly appearing behind them like that.

"I'm very interested in learning more about you three. If you'd like to take me along somewhere, I would be happy to join you."

"F… fine! Great!" Blossom stammered, flustered. "Just… stay with us, okay?" She then turned to Buttercup and whispered, " _One of us has to fly in the back to keep an eye on him. You're up!_ "

"What? Why me?!"

" _Y'know, cause you've got brothers._ "

"What about you?! You're the one who's always ogling your latest boytoy!"

"That- er…"

Blossom had no response. She reluctantly took up the rear as the strange formation of four took off flying towards the city laboratory.

* * *

"…and that's how it happened, Professor."

"My, goodness gracious, girls, you've really found one this time," he fretted, reacting in understandable surprise to the muscular, naked stranger. Now that she'd come to notice their guest's impressive physique, Buttercup found herself sneaking a peak now and again, whenever she thought she wasn't being watched. Blossom didn't fare much better.

"Yeah, w-whatever," stammered Buttercup, feigning disinterest, "do you think you can hit him with the anti-Z-ray-gun-thing and change him back already?"

"Now hold on," the man protested. "I'm not letting you hit me with any sort of ray-gun-thing until I know what it is. I think some explanations are in order. In fact, I haven't even gotten the chance to introduce myself, have I? I-"

The lab doors opened.

" **Uwa!** "

"Oh, bless me, we're never going to get anywhere…"

The man sighed, exasperated, as a young boy in lab gear entered the room, reacting to the naked man present and starting off on one thing or another. Really, the whole situation was getting tiring for everyone. Introductions were definitely in order.

* * *

"So you three are superheroines," the man assessed. The girls nodded in affirmation. "This here is Professor Utonium, the city's premiere scientist, and his prodigal son, Ken." Again, nods. "You were granted superpowers when this father-son science duo accidentally fired a device that bathed you in white Z-rays, simultaneously giving rise to several monsters who were transformed by black Z-rays."

"The Z-rays were in a giant iceberg!" Ken corrected, as if that somehow made more sense. "But… that's more or less the gist of it."

"And you've been able to turn most of these monsters back into whatever they were before they got hit by the black Z-rays using some sort of ray-gun device. Do I have that right?"

"Yup, you're pretty much caught up now," Bubbles said helpfully.

"All right, that's good," the man nodded. "Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I have nothing to do with this black Z-ray business. If it only affects monsters, then I doubt such a device would have any effect on me. You're welcome to try it, I suppose."

The girlz all looked over to the professor, who shrugged and pulled out the device. In the past, it had failed to fully restore even some of the creatures who _had_ been affected by the black Z-rays. The device was designed to be harmless to those it couldn't purify. After only minimal debate, he fired the ray, and as advertised, it had no effect at all on the muscular stranger.

"Now that that's established—everyone's here, right?" he confirmed, not wanting to repeat himself. "I am Zero, god of truth and passion. And truth be told… my arriving in this world is completely and totally an act of chance."

"Ehh?! You're a… a god?!" Blossom cried, surprised by this unexpected revelation.

"Oh my, to think they really exist…" reacted Bubbles. Buttercup was somehow less reverent.

"I don't care if you're the second coming! Show some decency already, will ya'?!"

"Eheheh… it really would be a good thing if you were to throw something on…" the professor suggested sheepishly, motioning to drape a blanket over Zero. The glare he received as he did so stopped him in his tracks. "Or… not."

"I'm quite comfortable, thank you," Zero retorted.

"Yeah, well what about the rest of us?" Buttercup harped.

Zero eyed her carefully for a long while, sizing her up before responding. He took his time in addressing her.

"Suppose I were to say I didn't like looking at you," he finally answered. "I thought green was an ugly color, or something along those lines. What then?"

"Buh? What the hell are you talking about?" she asked.

"Would you have to change the way you looked, or dressed, because I didn't like green?"

"What's wrong with green?!"

"That's not the-"

"Listen, you, if you're lookin' for a fight…!"

Buttercup lifted her rather large hammer aggressively, causing the professor and the other two girlz to panic—her using that thing inside the lab wasn't going to turn out well for anyone. Zero, however, seemed altogether unconcerned.

"First of all, you missed my point entirely, and second, you couldn't hurt me with that if you tried."

 **BOOM!**

That goading was enough to get Buttercup to swing full force, pounding the massive mallet squarely into Zero's face. He didn't budge. In fact, for several seconds after the fact, he didn't seem to react at all. Eventually, he began to slowly reach up and grasp the narrow shaft of the weapon. Buttercup tugged and pulled, but no matter what she did, enhanced strength or not, she couldn't get the weapon to move an inch. It was firmly in Zero's grasp. Finally, he began to move the weapon away from his (undamaged) face, lifting the shaft in the air and Buttercup along with it. The tone in his voice suggested that perhaps she had made a mistake as he looked her squarely in the eye.

"You do understand that I am a being with the power to wipe this entire universe out of existence in a matter of seconds… yes?" Zero informed her very matter-of-factly, as if the act of destroying a universe would equate to morning tea for him. The others present didn't like the implications of where this was going.

"You'd blow up the whole world over one little spat?" Buttercup criticized.

Zero bowed. "Of course not. I'm just trying to give you some much-needed perspective."

"Uh…? Wah!"

Buttercup flipped onto the floor involuntarily as an invisible forcefield seemed to repel her from her own weapon.

"It's obvious to me that you have no regard for the beauty of the human form," he lectured, his unwilling pupil still sprawled on the ground. "I think you'd do well to learn to appreciate what you have. Yes, yes, a lesson is in order." He turned to face her once more. "You have thirty seconds before the clothes you're wearing are destroyed."

"Ehhh?!"

"If they're valuable, you might want to take them off quickly. Twenty-nine. Twenty-eight…"

Zero continued counting as Buttercup and everyone else present stared at him in disbelief.

"What do we do?" asked Blossom. "Do we fight him?"

"Kaoru's hammer didn't do anything to him at all…" fretted Bubbles.

The professor, wasting no time, darted off into the next room. Ken merely stood there, shocked at how things were playing out; Buttercup didn't seem especially intimidated.

"You… you wouldn't dare," she boasted, sure that he was bluffing. As if to prove her wrong, an invisible force began to stretch and pull on her costume, demonstrating Zero's power over it. She began to get nervous.

"Kaoru! Here!"

The professor returned with a bathrobe, hurling it towards Buttercup, who caught it in a somewhat unprepared fashion.

"What am I supposed to do with this?!"

"You have to take your costume off! It's too important to lose!"

"Eighteen, seventeen, sixteen…"

"But… but it's magic, right?! It'll come back if it's ripped up… right?"

"We can't risk it!" the professor fired back.

"But… but everyone's watching!" Buttercup protested.

"Oh! Ah, er, uh, right!" he stammered, turning around. "Ken, come on! We should, uh… go to the other room! Yes, right away!"

Ken hurriedly complied, leaving the girlz and Zero alone in the lab for a moment.

"Twelve, eleven, ten…"

"Kaoru, hurry!" Bubbles prodded.

"All right, all right already!"

She shouted and fussed as she very hurriedly changed out of her outfit and threw on the bathrobe, just in time for Zero's countdown to hit… well, zero. The very moment it did, the bathrobe she was wearing exploded into tatters.

" **Yahhh!** "

Buttercup screamed in a surprisingly girly fashion, trying to cover herself in futility as she now stood naked in the laboratory. She reached for her costume once more…

"Careful," Zero warned. "If you try to put that back on, it'll just be destroyed as well."

"You ass!" she shouted. "What the hell am I supposed to do, then?!"

"We're back, we're ba- aaaah!"

" **Get out, get out!** "

Ken and the professor were quickly turned around again after trying to re-enter the lab.

"It's all right, gentlemen, you can come on in," Zero vetoed. "It won't make a bit of difference now—Kaoru's going to be dressed like this for a while."

"K-Kaoru?!" Buttercup stammered. "A… **a while?!** "

"That's what the professor called you, right? I'm assuming that's your real name. It's quite nice," Zero said with a smile that was utterly inappropriate to the situation at hand. He then turned his attention to the other two girls. "I'd very much like to know your names, as well. There's not much point keeping them a secret from me now, especially since I can read minds."

The girlz were suddenly very afraid of this seemingly-omnipotent new foe. His power… was there no end to it? His claim of being a god seemed more and more believable by the second. What did that say for Kaoru's fate?

"I'm… ah, er… Momoko…" Blossom finally relented. The look of defeat on her face was palpable. Bubbles, too, gave a defeated sigh.

"My name is Miyako," she announced.

"Oh, girls, please, don't worry," Zero tried to assure them in as pleasant a manner as possible. "You've both been quite gracious. I have no intent of being your enemy. Kaoru… she just needs a little lesson in humility, that's all."

"Like hell!" the naked Kaoru barked. The girlz were on her side. No matter how sweet and innocent this "god" acted to them, he had barged in and decided to more or less take their teammate hostage. It would take a lot for them to move past that.

"Ah! Er, Kaoru…" the professor started, having a thought. "What would happen if you were to de-transform?"

"Good question," Zero answered. "Care to try it?"

Kaoru angrily grabbed her costume; she had planned on doing it herself, but now that Zero had told her to, she didn't want to oblige him out of principle. Still, it was something she needed to know. With the belt in hand, she activated the button that usually turned off "Powered Buttercup" mode. Like usual, she found herself powered down. Unlike usual, the deformation turned the costume back into her regular clothes without putting them on her. Which made sense, since she hadn't been wearing the costume.

"Wait," asked Momoko, now de-transformed herself, "what if we get called on to deal with a monster?"

"We can't have Kaoru flying around with us like… er, that…" said Miyako. Kaoru blushed angrily; she didn't need to be reminded about being naked.

"Another good question," said Zero, pondering that to himself. He took some time to do so before speaking again: "I guess for the time being, you're a duo. Or else I suppose I could lend you a hand. What do you think of Powered Zero, huh?"

He was obviously joking, judging by his jovial grin, but most of them weren't in much of a laughing mood, Kaoru especially.

"Quit messin' around!" she shouted. "What about my family? What about school?! What am I supposed to do there, huh?!"

"You'll be going to both just the way you are now," he said, much to her dismay. "In the same skin you were born in."

"That's… unreasonable!" protested the professor.

"She'll get arrested!" Ken added.

"Don't worry about that," Zero insisted, dismissing their concerns with a wave of his hand. Kaoru was sweating. With a knowing smile, he assured all of them: "When a god tells you something will happen, it'll happen. Didn't you know? That's what they call 'fate.'"


	3. Chapter 2: Kaoru's Day

"K… Kaoru! What's going on? This is most inappropriate!"

"Er… well… see… you probably won't believe me, but… I'm, um… not allowed to wear clothes…"

Ms. Keane, the girlz's homeroom teacher, was typically very understanding. If even she was throwing a fit about Kaoru's circumstances, she hated to anticipate how the other teachers were going to react. _I knew this was never going to fly,_ she thought. It was bad enough having to deal with the rude stares, but having to try to explain herself… of course no one would believe her.

"Who would tell you such a thing?" the teacher asked, sternly. "Certainly not your father…!"

"Er… no… well, see, there's this… god…"

"A… god?" For a moment, Ms. Keane didn't look like she believed her student at all. Understandable. Who in their right mind would believe such an outrageous claim? Certainly no sane person. And yet, after a moment, her teacher's eyes lit up in epiphany. "I think I know who would tell you that. It's Master Zero, isn't it?"

"B…buh?"

Ms. Keane had a history of keeping very strange company. The President of the United States, space aliens, even Mojo Jojo on a good day… but how in the multiverse would she know an otherworldly deity? Maybe it was best not to question these things. Especially not when they worked out so conveniently.

"Y…yes! It's Zero!" Kaoru affirmed.

" _How does she know Zero exactly?"_ Momoko whispered in her seat.

" _Let's not think about it too much,"_ Miyako replied.

"Well, if it's Zero's handiwork, I suppose it can't be helped," Ms. Keane finally acquiesced. She then turned her attention to the rest of the class. "All of you! You'd better not let me catch this distracting you from your studies!"

" _Yeees, maaa'am…"_

It had taken all of Kaoru's courage to actually come here today. She had managed to convince the professor, and her parents, to let her stay at the lab the previous night. That morning, she tried and tried to come up with any excuse she could to avoid going to school. Beethoven in the lungs, a case of Achilles' heel… but nothing flew. With Zero there at the lab, there wasn't much she could do in the way of lying.

The walk through town had been the most humiliating commute of her life. Her newly-budding breasts, the small patch of hair starting to grow down there… everything was visible, and though she tried at first to sneak her way through town, covering her naughty bits and ducking behind trees and telephone poles, an unwelcome but familiar voice rang out in her head:

 _You know, ducking and hiding like that makes you look like an exhibitionist thrillseeker. It's much better for your reputation to just own it._

She hated when Zero was right. She also hated when he popped into her head without permission… and above all, she hated him because he was the reason all of this was happening. Some arrogant god, expecting everyone to bow and scrape before him…

 _I heard that._

* * *

"Get out of there!"

After shouting that, Kaoru looked around. She was standing at her desk, completely naked, the center of attention for the whole class. Apparently she had nodded off at some point and started dreaming about that morning—perhaps her sleeping at the lab hadn't been the best solution after all. She fell into a deep body blush and sunk back into her chair, apologizing for the interruption.

Even though Ms. Keane was kind enough to continue the lesson without bringing further attention to her, Kaoru couldn't bring her mind to focus on the teacher's lesson. It was too distracted by the gossip all around her… voices that surely thought they were being quiet, but didn't realize just how clearly audible they were, even while trying to be quiet. Or maybe they knew full well she could hear them.

"She's really naked… I can't believe it," one chubby boy chuckled.

"Hey… do you think the teacher would notice if we took some pictures with our phones?"

"Man, I just wish it had been Miyako…"

"I can't wait for P.E. That's gonna be great."

All of the voices were male. Comments like that made it difficult for Kaoru's blush to ever leave her… which only drew more attention to her body. The entire lesson, Kaoru wanted nothing more than to sink into a hole and disappear.

* * *

 **SLAM!**

Kaoru's locker shut as forcibly as it ever had, and Momoko and Miyako hovered around her, trying to at least provide her a little bit of cover.

"We're sorry you have to go through all this, Kaoru…" Miyako sympathized.

"He still hasn't told you how long you have to do this, has he?" asked Momoko.

Kaoru looked down at the running shoes she had pulled out of her locker. She wondered if she would be allowed to wear them for gym or not. She looked long and hard at the almost-new sneakers. What if trying to put them on destroyed them, like it had the bathrobe? It was a tough decision, but…

"No way. I like these shoes, I'm not risking it," she announced to herself.

" _Did you hear that?"_ a girl's voice whispered from elsewhere in the room. _"She's actually_ _ **choosing**_ _not to wear anything…"_

" _What a pervert!"_ another laughed.

Kaoru turned suddenly towards the source of the voices, but could not make out who they had come from. As bad as it was being drooled over by all the guys, the disparaging comments from the girls hurt worse.

"It's not like that…" Kaoru said quietly. "It's not my fault!"

But she was the only one still in the locker room.

* * *

Home with the family was no better. Kaoru's mother was aghast, of course. Her father scolded her with some weird analogy about not wearing his luchador mask. Her younger brother laughed, and the older one called her a perverted kid who would never be married. That was all it took for Kaoru to realize that she wasn't even welcome in her own home. She booked it back to the lab, in tears.

"Oh! Kaoru!" greeted the professor. "How was your day? Did you get through it okay?" He took a closer look and noticed the droplets resting on her cheeks. "Why don't you come inside and talk about it? Zero's gone right now."

"Kaoru!" Momoko greeted from the couch, dumpling in hand. "Come sit with us. I just got some sweets on the way home."

"Kaoru? Are you all right?" Miyako asked gingerly.

Kaoru sniffed and stifled her tears. "I'll make it…" she insisted. "I just wish… I wish none of this were happening," she finally said. "I don't get why he's doing this to me. It's not fair."

"Hmm… I agree," the professor concurred. "Even if he's a god, this was too far. I'm sorry you had to go through all this, Kaoru."

"So am I."

An unwelcome voice beckoned from the hallway. Zero stood there, entering the conversation.

"I thought you said he wasn't here!" Kaoru complained to the professor.

"I'm sorry!" he answered. "He just… comes and goes as he pleases!"

"Kaoru, I know you're angry with me," Zero started, a surprisingly gentle tone to his voice, "but despite what you might think, I don't enjoy seeing you suffer."

 _Yeah, right,_ she thought to herself.

"If I may… I'd just like to ask you a question," Zero suggested. No one in the lab responded, prompting him to continue. "What was it like out there? Your classmates, your family… how did they treat you today?"

"Of all the…!" Momoko started, angrily.

"He knows full well how Kaoru was treated today!" scolded Miyako.

"It was awful!" Kaoru shouted. "Everyone called me a pervert, the boys wouldn't take their eyes off me… I almost died of embarrassment when we were doing stretches in gym! And it's all your fault!"

Zero remained collected, as always.

"What about here at the lab?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"How was it when you came back here?"

"Er… well…"

She hadn't really stopped to think about it. She had been so angry and hurt by the day she'd had, the last thing on her mind was what had happened over the course of the past few minutes.

"Your friends, the professor… none of them hesitated to try to comfort you, to welcome you back into the group. Even Ken wants you here, naked or not."

Zero motioned to another hallway, where Ken hid quietly, blushing, but watching the scene play out. It was obvious that he was worried about Kaoru, too, even if he was having a bit of trouble looking at her.

"That, out there…" Zero said, "what you experienced today? That's the world as it is now. In here, with us, is the world as it could be."

No one responded to Zero after he had finished his little speech. In some capacity, they were processing what it was he was trying to say, but to the same extent, they were eyeing him with the same distrusting eyes they had been. They were still far from convinced that he was a friend. Maybe, though… it was possible, at least, that he might prove less of an enemy than they had first thought.

Without another word, Zero summoned Kaoru's clothing she had removed the day before, laying them on the ground before her as he vanished into the aether. Her clothes had been returned to her… now she just had to wrap her head around this strange lesson of Zero's. Was there really a method to his madness?

" _The world as it could be, huh…?"_


	4. Chapter 3: At the Lab

Momoko popped into the lab cheerfully—she had hurried over after school, only stopping at two cake shops today rather than the usual three, so she was certain she would be the first to arrive.

"Zero! Zeeero~!"

She called cheerfully, noticing the handsome deity on the couch from the doorway, his back to the entrance. He turned to face her at her beckoning.

"Hm?"

And so did Miyako.

"Oh, hi, Momoko."

"…ehhh?"

The disappointment that fell over Momoko's face that moment was almost tangible. Miyako had been sitting on the couch next to Zero, too short to be seen behind its back from a distance.

"You beat me here, Miyako…"

"I was just having a conversation with Mr. Zero… did you need him for something?"

"You're welcome to join us," Zero added.

"No, no…" Momoko waved with a deflated sigh. "I'll just… come back later…"

She meandered out of the room, melancholy. It had been over a week now since the incident with Kaoru, and things had gotten back to normal at the lab, with the exception of Zero's presence. He'd continued to spend his free time there, and by now, the girlz had started to get used to his being around. He hadn't conducted any antagonistic deeds during that time. Even Ken and the professor had gotten some use out of having an all-powerful deity on hand to conduct science with.

"She seemed disappointed," Miyako commented.

"I think she may have wanted to spend some time alone with me," Zero assessed. Now that the girlz had started to get to know him a little better, Momoko's anxiety and suspicion had been replaced with how she usually behaved around any reasonably attractive-looking boys.

"I think she'd run into some problems if she tried dating you," Miyako laughed. "Isn't that right?"

"Well, yes…" Zero admitted. "It wouldn't be the first time."

"Oh? Have you… fallen in love with a human before?"

"I have. More than once, in fact. But…" He paused. "Only once did it turn into something long-term."

Miyako thought about that a moment. "Long-term… what happened, exactly?"

"Well… I'm an immortal, you see," he explained. "Unlike humans, I never age. Even knowing this, there was a time not too long ago that a human girl convinced me to live out her days with her. We met when she was young, and I loved her even as she aged… but it became strange, of course, an older woman living together with a being who is forever young. It was difficult for her. Shortly after she turned 55, she made the decision to send me on my way again. We left on loving terms, and I left her with all the providence I could, but I don't know if she found love again after that."

"Oh my," Miyako commented. "That's very sweet, but also tragic… how old was she when you met?"

"Seventeen."

"That's quite a bit older than Momoko," Miyako teased. "She can still be a bit of a child sometimes."

"It's all relative," Zero told her. "Compared to me, even your grandmother is still a child. If I only got involved with people my own age, I would be stuck dating trees."

"Oh, I see. Um… if I may ask… how old are you, exactly?"

Zero became very contemplative then, struggling to come up with a definitive answer. "That's hard to say," he finally replied. "It's been so long since I became a god… then there was that time I spent in that world of distorted time… jumping from world to world, each with its own calendar and dating system, it gets to be impossible to keep track. It must have been several hundred years, at the very least."

"Wow. I can't even imagine…" Miyako said. "You must be very intelligent."

"Why do you say that?" he asked.

"My grandmother taught me to respect your elders," she explained, "because they have such a large pool of experience to draw from."

"That's an interesting way to define intelligence," Zero remarked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the way you speak, it's as if intelligence is just a pool of information that fills up as we age. I think that's a misconception," he explained. "Intelligence—or rather, in this context, I think I would call it wisdom—is about the decisions one makes. It's about how you choose to interpret and process your experiences, rather than how many of them you have."

"How do you measure that?"

"That's the question, isn't it?" he replied. "If it were simply a matter of quantity, then everyone of the same age would be equal in wisdom. But obviously, that's not the case. You can have all the experience in the world, and it won't mean anything if you don't choose to learn from it. Likewise, you can find much to learn from in a single experience if you simply make the effort to look for it."

He leaned in towards Miyako with a smile and whispered. "Just between you and me… I think you're a bit wiser to the ways of the world than Momoko or Kaoru are."

Miyako blushed, always modest when receiving praise.

"What about you?" she asked. "Does being a god affect how you think?"

"Hm? Well, that's also hard to say… in a way, how you think is what makes one a god in the first place," he explained. "But biologically speaking… my brain is the same as a human's, as long as I'm in human form."

"Human form? You have others?"

Again, Zero hesitated.

"I do…" he admitted, "but there are some forms that I prefer not to take around humans, especially those I care about."

"A form like that…" she pondered. "It must be terrible to look at."

For a moment, then, he was silent.

"Yes."

"Is it… a monster?"

…

"Yes."

Miyako's eyes fell, surprised by this revelation… but more than that, she was strangely saddened by it. Zero sensed her concern immediately.

"Does that frighten you?"

"No, no… I was just thinking of a friend of mine," she told him. "He's turned into a monster, too, and… we haven't found him yet, so that we can help him turn back."

Zero sighed. "I wish I could track down these black Z-ray creatures of yours… maybe then I could help bring him back," he lamented. "But… if you ever do find him, let me know. I'll be there to help in any way I can."

Miyako smiled at the gesture. It was enough to know that Zero wanted her to be happy, wanted her friend to be happy. She was glad that she and Zero were friends now, even after their… less than ideal introduction.

As she thought that, a familiar red bow creeped its way up from behind her.

" _Hey, Miyako,"_ it whispered, _"that boutique across town is having a flash sale… good stuff, but only for the next 30 minutes."_

Miyako was off before Zero had a chance even to wave, leaving the spot on the couch conveniently available for Momoko to plop down beside him, looking square into his clear, white eyes with a schoolgirl's grin.

"You didn't just make that up, did you?" he asked.

"It's a real sale," she insisted. "I might've exaggerated how quickly it was ending, but who cares? Now I have you to myself."

She'd come a long way from her distrust and suspicion of Zero that first day they had met. Not only had his personality started to warm on her, but she'd completely gotten past his perpetual nudity, to the point that she now saw having a handsome, naked boy around the lab as just another reason to hang out there—figuratively, that is. Zero was the only one hanging out literally.

"You went through a lot of trouble just to sit down with me," he laughed. "I'm flattered."

"What're you talking about?" she said, playfully. All she'd done was get him alone—she hadn't even made a move yet.

"It's all right. I like girls who are forward."

"Eh? You do?"

"I am the god of honesty, after all."

Momoko blushed and turned away for a moment, not sure how to proceed with the conversation. She hadn't planned on a boy actually openly admitting to liking her—that had never happened before. As she stumbled over where to go next, Zero continued on his own.

"Here's what I don't understand… I hear you have a history of boy troubles."

"…eh…!"

Momoko suddenly looked very nervous.

"You… heard about that, did you?" she asked.

"Can I ask you how many dates you've been on?"

Oof. He was really hitting her where it hurt.

"Oh, uh, er, that's not important, is it?" she laughed.

"Have you… never been on a date?"

"I'll have you know I've been on **two** dates!" she barked back, offended. She then pulled back and covered her mouth—she hadn't planned on telling him that.

"How'd those go? Did you drop the guys after that?"

"N… no…" she admitted, sheepishly. "They… never called back…"

"I just don't understand it," Zero shook his head, disapprovingly. "Maybe the boys in your class just aren't interested in girls yet. Has to be it."

"Eh?"

"I mean, you're very sweet, super cute… and a real go-getter, to boot. It makes no sense why you wouldn't have a boyfriend."

At those words, Momoko's heart skipped a beat. No one… no boy had ever said those sorts of things about her—they'd all been repulsed by how forward she was. Always.

 _Are you dreaming, Momoko?_ she thought to herself. _No way this is really happening. It never goes this well… never! But if it is… if it is…!_

Her eyes locked with Zero's. Everything else seemed to disappear. Slowly, without even realizing it, she started moving her face closer to his. Closer… slowly, closer… this was it…

 **SLAM!**

"Hey, Zero! I'm gonna beat you today, you hear me?!"

And just like that, the moment was shattered. Zero also looked rather disappointed as he turned his attention to the source of the noise: Kaoru had made it to the lab, and her voice was coming from down the entry hall where she'd thrown open the front door.

 _How dare she…!_ a frustrated Momoko thought to herself.

" _Damn,"_ Zero whispered. _"It looks like our conversation is over for now… hey, Momoko?"_

" _Hm?"_

Momoko turned towards him again just in time for him to plant a gentle peck on her cheek, too sudden for her to react to. Without another word, he got up and started for the hall, leaving her alone on the couch with a goofy, satisfied smile spread across her face. Suddenly, the interruption didn't seem like it mattered all that much.

* * *

Kaoru stood defiantly in the doorway, finger pointed in challenge at Zero's arrival.

"You really want to try this again?" he asked.

"I decided that I'm going to show you what for, and that's exactly what I'm gonna do!" she insisted. "C'mon, let's take this outside, I'm ready for ya'!"

"Kaoru, we've been over this," Zero sighed. "No matter how we stack this up, it's not going to be an even fight. If we both go at it in human form, then, well, I'm a lot bigger and stronger than you are. If you transformed, you'd heavily outclass me, and if we both went full power, it would be no contest for me at all. I could lower my power to match you, but-"

"No, no, no!" Kaoru shouted. "I'm gonna beat you at your best, dammit! That's the only way I'll be satisfied!"

"…but you won't be happy if I handicap myself in any way," he finished with an exasperated tone of voice. "So we're at an impasse."

"Look, all I gotta do is figure out a way to deal with that stupid whatza-kinesis of yours, that's all!" she told him. "Once I got that down…"

"There's nothing you can do to 'deal with it,' and even if you could, my full power is leagues beyond anything you can comprehend," he insisted. "If we must fight, why don't we do it as humans? Look, I'll turn myself into a middle schooler and we can-"

"Are you gonna start hanging around the lab like that?"

"Well… would you like me to?"

Kaoru shook her head violently. She wouldn't admit it to Zero, but he had figured out a while back that Kaoru was into big muscles. She would probably miss seeing him in his muscular teenage form if he were to switch to a stringy little tween body.

"Well, I'm not going to fight you with my powers," he told her absolutely. "Every match will just end with you floating in the air helplessly. I'll fight as I am, and you can fight me however you want to—as Kaoru or Buttercup."

Kaoru wasn't pleased with that choice. She knew if she beat him as Powered Buttercup, it wouldn't feel like a victory, and it would just be chalked up to her having superpowers while he didn't. At the same time, though… she'd tried fighting him human v. human a couple of days ago, and she hadn't even been able to lay a finger on him with her thirteen-year-old girl muscles.

Okay. She'd fight him transformed, win, and that would be a stepping stone to beating him without transforming. It didn't have to count as a win because it was just a means to an end. That was the way she chose to look at it.

"Powered Buttercup!"

One elaborate transformation sequence later, Buttercup stood, armed and ready to face her opponent.

"Are you going to fight me armed or unarmed?" he asked, eyeing her hammer. Buttercup glanced at it herself, realizing that she was holding a weapon against an unarmed opponent, then cast it aside with an unnecessarily exaggerated flare of disgust. If he was going unarmed, so was she.

"All right, then," he said, "there's just one more thing. You'll have to take off your clothes."

"What? Like hell!"

"Hey, now, I don't have any superclothing. That stuff's like armor—the professor himself told me how much it reduces impact from hits."

"Well, why don't you _get_ some?"

Zero sighed. "I can't synthesize stuff like that out of nothing. Besides, do you really want our fight to be decided by who's got the better armor, rather than by who's got the better bod?"

Buttercup grumbled. She groaned. She protested. But, he was right. It seemed he was always right, and that was kind of infuriating. No one who was right that often could be trusted. But just this once… just because the lab was on its own property, because he was always naked, and because he had already seen her naked anyway… she would comply. With some awkwardness, Buttercup wriggled and found a way to squeeze out of the Z leotard.

"Look at that, and you don't even have to wear a skirt anymore," Zero teased.

"Shut up!"

Buttercup lunged at her foe, practically slicing the air where he had been standing as he only barely dodged her punch. He would have to be careful. He was relying on nothing but human muscle strength and martial arts skills to take on a superhuman—granted, he had at least a couple centuries of combat experience over her, but there was a limit to how far that would take him.

He countered with a sweeping kick to her stomach, landing a blow to the soft tissue but sliding off rather than making a straight connect. Buttercup moved backwards a couple feet, then braced herself for his next attack. This one was a downward kick for her head, which went less successfully for Zero—his foot nearly broke on her skull, something she wasted no time smirking triumphantly about.

It was nice, Zero thought, being able to go all out without fear of hurting his foe. Even if she was a young teenaged girl, she was still a superhero—she could take anything he could dish out and more, as long as he was in human form. The fact that any of her blows connecting would be enough to cripple him, too, made her an excellent training partner.

 _Just don't get hit,_ he told himself, _dear lord, don't get hit._

Then… he got hit.

 **WHAM!**

"Yeah! How's that?!"

"Just… some shattered ribs," he struggled to get out. "Give it a few seconds and they'll be as good as new."

Buttercup came in with a follow-up attack before those few seconds were up, forcing Zero to dodge around her. He delivered a fierce kick to her backside, sending her stumbling forward in response.

"H… hey! My ass is off limits!" she shouted with a boyish laugh. She wasn't serious, of course—she was determined to beat him whatever he tried. This was the part of her that fascinated Zero. As much as he complained about her unreasonable nature, it was the same nature that demanded she beat him without handicap. He found it intriguing. The girl definitely had an interesting and unique system of principles. Between her and Zero… something was definitely budding, even if neither of them quite knew what it was yet.


	5. Chapter 4: Conversations

"Psst… hey, Miyako."

"Eh? What is it, Momoko?"

"Have you noticed how serious Kaoru's been around Zero?"

"Now that you mention it, she's been trying awfully hard to prove herself to him in a fight…"

"Every day! It's been every… single… day! C'mon, think about it, no one tries that hard unless they like a guy."

"Ehhh? You think Kaoru likes… Zero? No way!"

"Why else would she be sparring with him so often?"

"Are you sure she's not just frustrated that she can't win?"

"No way, no way! Kaoru's bad with guys, right? And fighting is the only thing those two started doing together, so I'll bet she just keeps on doing it so she has an excuse to spend time with him."

"I don't know… how could she like him, after the way he humiliated her like that?"

"Yeah, she definitely changed her tone fast… weirdly fast. All that stuff he made her do… Hey, maybe she's one of those girls who likes being told what to do?"

"Kaoru? Couldn't be."

"Yeah, that's it! She acts tough, but she really wants to be with someone even tougher than she is."

"Is Zero… 'tough?'"

"There's totally something there! Trust me, my woman's intuition is never wrong!"

"Oh, well, if you say so… are you going to meddle, then?"

"We have to get them together! That way Kaoru can do other things with him, besides just fighting."

"That's awfully generous of you, Momoko. I thought for sure you would want Mr. Zero for yourself."

"Uwaaa… don't remind me… but sometimes a girl has to make sacrifices! I'm doing this for friendship!"

"Friendship?"

"See, if me and Kaoru both tried to compete for him, Kaoru would get mad because she's not very good with guys, right? Then Zero would feel sorry for her, but he'd already be dating me, and the two of them would have to start seeing each other behind my back. Then I would get mad and have to find someone to hook up with Kaoru so I could have Zero all to myself, but then it would turn out that I liked the guy I found for Kaoru, he would like her, Zero would give up on both of us, I'd get no one, and it would be the end of Powerpuff Girls Z! Get it?"

"I, er… I see. That… makes sense?"

"Right. And that's why we've got to find out for sure how they both feel about each other."

* * *

"Hey, Kaoru~!"

"Eh? Momoko? What're you so cheerful about?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it. Hey, listen, I wanna ask you… what do you think of Mr. Zero?"

"Uh… what? What're you askin' that for?"

"C'mon, c'mon, answer~!"

"Whaddya think I think? He made me pull that stupid stunt at school, not to mention in front of my family… I can't stand the guy!"

"Hm? Yeah, well, I guess he did do all that…"

"My family got to understanding after I explained it to 'em, but… I'll be lucky if the school just forgets all that ever happened. I mean, jeez… even wearin' a skirt is better than bein' naked all the time."

"Haven't you been fighting Zero naked, though?"

"Th… that's different! It's so I don't have an unfair advantage!"

"You've been fighting with Zero a lot lately, haven't you?"

"That's cuz I'm gonna kick his butt, you hear me?!"

"Is it a nice butt?"

"Boy, is it… I mean, no! To kick! It's nice to kick, that's what I meant!"

"What're you gonna do when you finally beat him?"

"Well, I… er… uh… I'll finally get him to respect me, that's what!"

"You really want him to respect you a lot, huh?"

"That's… aw, what the hell, Momoko! Get outta here, will ya'?!"

* * *

"Mr. Zero?"

"Hm? What is it, Miyako?"

"I was just wondering… what do you think of Kaoru?"

"Kaoru? Why this, all of a sudden?"

"Well, you've been spending a lot of time with her lately… you know, sparring and all."

"Did you want to spar with me, too, Miyako?"

"Oh, goodness, no! I'm afraid I'm not cut out for that at all."

"Oh no? That's too bad. To tell you the truth, I've always been drawn to feisty girls like Kaoru… in the past, I've had many of them as my disciples."

"Disciples?"

"They help me spread the values of truth and passion to each of the worlds I visit."

"And they're… feisty?"

"Well, not always. Quite a few have been, though. Sometimes I wonder why I often end up coming back to girls like that… do you think it would be strange if the god of honesty were drawn to dishonesty?"

"Do you think Kaoru is a dishonest person?"

"I think she's dishonest with her own feelings at times. Her type doesn't like to let her walls down, let others see her vulnerabilities."

"So, you're saying you like that type of girl?"

"I don't know… maybe it's just the challenge of getting someone like that to open themselves up. Maybe it's something deeper. It's always so hard to say. When it comes to Kaoru, I haven't even put much thought into making her a disciple… to tell you the truth, I worry I may have gone a bit too far, too fast in the way I treated her when we met."

"Does she have to be your disciple for you to like her?"

"What are you getting at…?"

"Well, there's a difference between a girlfriend and a disciple, right?"

"There is… but in some ways there isn't. I think the ideal relationship is one in which both parties are willing to do anything for the other without question… don't you think?"

"I suppose that's one way of looking at it, but-"

"You know, when I do have a disciple, in many ways, I'm the one working for them—it's not just the other way around. I grant wishes, help make their lives easier. I actually enjoy helping others very much. It brightens my day to see them happy."

"And Kaoru?"

"I would love very much to see her happy."

"That would mean you like her, wouldn't it?"

"I like everyone. Or, rather, that is to say, I would like to see everyone happy."

* * *

"That's it? That's all you got outta him?"

"I'm sorry, Momoko… it was really hard. He just kept talking about disciples and good will towards all mankind, and… and things like that…"

"C'mon, Miyako! He's the god of truth! You just have to ask him the right questions!"

* * *

"Heya, Zero!"

"Oh, hello, Momoko."

"Listen, listen, I wanna ask you something… you're the god of truth, right? That means you can't lie?"

"That's right."

"Okay, so tell me… do you like Kaoru?"

"What are you and Miyako up to…? She was just asking me the same thing."

"Just answer me, okay?"

"Of course I like her."

"Okay, so… what do you like about her?"

"Hmm… well, I'd have to say it's her fighting spirit that draws me to her. I admire her drive for self-improvement, and the way she's so committed to being fair and honorable. There aren't many people out there who really value that sort of thing. Also, I know she'd hate to hear me say it, but I think she's really cute."

* * *

"And there you have it~!"

"He… really said all that about me?"

"Yup, yup~! Miyako was there recording it, and everything!"

"Wow, Momoko… you're a lot better at that sort of thing than I am."

"I'm an expert on love, after all~!"


	6. Chapter 5: Bonding

A low jab, then a leg sweep… followed by a shoulder check right past her target.

"Are you really trying, Kaoru?"

"Gah… shut up! Of course I am!"

Today, Kaoru had opted not to transform before sparring with Zero. She was in her regular, non-super, human form, which she knew would put her at a severe disadvantage in terms of strength, fighting skill notwithstanding. Even when she was in Powered Buttercup form versus his non-powered self, Zero usually held his own by sheer virtue of his many years more combat experience.

"You know, you're more than welcome to transform if you'd like to," he reminded her.

"No way! I can take you just the way I am!"

He easily dodged another attack.

"There's no shame in it," he shrugged. "We were doing pretty evenly before… you even beat me a few times. Why this all of a sudden?"

Kaoru was panting, catching her breath. Not only had she opted out of fighting in her transformed state, but she was still fighting him in her birthday suit—which she'd only done originally because her superhero costume gave her a combat advantage. She had no reason to fight like this in her human state, aside from habit.

"Has something happened?"

Kaoru didn't respond. She finished catching her breath, then pouted and turned away from Zero, wordlessly acknowledging her loss this time. She started walking off.

"Hey, hey, I didn't mean any insult… I'm sorry if I made you upset," he apologized. Kaoru scoffed.

"Whatever."

"Do you wanna… sit down and talk?" he asked. "We've been doing a lot of sparring, but not much else lately."

"I… gotta go take a bath," she told him. An excuse.

"Mind if I join you?"

And then the air fell silent. Awkwardly so. Zero had blurted out something that would have been more commonly uttered in a more antiquated time, not especially thinking about where or when he was; he was sure as soon as he said it that she would, of course, say no. He was certain of it.

Then again, sometimes, even the gods are surprised.

* * *

The sound of steam and trickling water filled the room. It was surprisingly old-fashioned for the science lab. Zero wondered how often Kaoru and the others actually bathed here… perhaps it was just her, and only because of all the sparring the two of them had been doing.

"I'm surprised you let me join you," he said.

"Meh… I've got brothers," she told him. "I'm sort of used to it."

"You all still bathe together?"

"Nah, not anymore, but they walk around the house enough."

Zero paused to consider the conversation, realizing how little he actually knew about Kaoru or her home life. He knew some basics from conversations with Momoko and Miyako, as well as passing chats with Kaoru herself, but… the only time he'd even been to her home was to visit her family's dreams and convince them of his existence. As far as faith-winning techniques went, it was an oldie but goodie.

"You have two brothers, right?"

"Yup."

"Any sisters?"

"Nah… just my brothers, my mom and my dad."

"The wrestler?"

"That's right. You remind me of him a little bit."

"Because of the muscles?"

"It's your laugh."

Zero stopped to ponder that. He wasn't immediately sure if she was trying to compliment him or not, but it was sweet if she was. From what he had heard, she did seem to have a lot of respect for her father.

"What about you?" she asked.

"Hm?"

"Do you have any family?"

"That, er…"

Zero paused to consider his words carefully. Just how much could he tell her…?

"In terms of blood relatives… well… I don't know. I don't actually remember the time before I was a god."

"Eh? There was a time before?"

"Sure. Gods don't just come into being from nothing—they ascend. I was human, once."

"But you don't remember anything from that time?"

"No… just that it happened."

Kaoru thought about it.

"That's like a lot of people, I think. Most folks don't remember when they were really little."

Zero grinned. "That's one way of looking at it, isn't it?"

"What about after you turned?"

"What about it?"

"Did you have any kind of family after that? You know, like… like how the professor's kind of like a second dad, and how the girls are kind of like sisters to me."

Again, Zero contemplated long and hard.

"I did… but…"

Kaoru waited for him to continue, and he sighed.

"I suppose you could say I ran from them, and… now I can't go back. It's not something I'm proud of."

"So that's why you're a world-trotter, huh?"

"Well… sort of. I could always settle down somewhere, if I really wanted to," he explained. "I travel because I want to. Because I get to see so many interesting worlds, meet so many people… if I didn't travel, I wouldn't have met you."

This time, the silence between them wasn't truly silent at all. It spoke volumes without either of them uttering a word.

"Miyako and Momoko told me what you said about me," Kaoru finally revealed.

"What's that?"

"The things… you said you liked about me. You meant them, right?"

"Of course I did. Every word."

"Yeah… well…" Kaoru blushed and looked down, not quite able to bring herself to look him in the eye. "I have… some things I like about Zero. Like…"

Kaoru was struggling to get this out. It was an embarrassing thing to say, but she wanted to say it anyway.

"I like… how you stand for your beliefs…" she said. "Even if it got us into a fight when we met… it's… cool, y'know? Oh, and… and… the way you don't hold back when we spar, even though I'm a girl… thanks for that."

Zero smiled a dopey, flattered smile. It was uncharacteristic of him, but then, it was uncharacteristic of Kaoru to be talking like this. It was definitely strange for her… but also very sweet.

"Kaoru… I-"

"H… hey!" she interrupted. She was still having trouble looking at him directly. "How… do you feel about Momoko? And Miyako?" she finally asked.

"I would say…" He hesitated a moment, reflecting on his role as the god of truth. Now, Kaoru was watching his every tell and expression like a hawk. Zero sighed. "They're both very pretty," he admitted, "but I don't feel the connection with them that I do with you."

Kaoru leaned in very near, studying him intently. Her face was centimeters from his, eyes narrowed.

"Are you lying to me?"

"No."

That moment lasted a long time. Kaoru was thinking, deciding, and then finally, at long last, she came to an ultimatum.

"I believe you."

In a moment, her lips found her way to his in a movement that felt much too practiced to be coming from Kaoru. The damp skin of her cheek slid gently against Zero's face; her unexpected boldness had caught him completely by surprise. Even Kaoru thought it was uncharacteristic of her—maybe it was because she already knew about Zero's feelings for her. Maybe all the naked sparring had just made her that comfortable around him. It hadn't helped that she'd spent the past week plus getting all pent up ogling those muscles of his, either.

For that one brief instant, all was bliss between them. Then… Kaoru's nerves got the best of her, and she pulled away. Zero was a bit disappointed at how quickly it had ended; he could tell she was, too.

"That was… I, er…" she stammered. "I don't know what I was doing there."

Without a word of response, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in and grasping her tightly. Her wet skin pressed against his, and she flushed bright red as she became visibly flustered.

"Wah, wah, h-hey, d-don't… don't get any ideas…!"

Her body betrayed her words. Without her even realizing it, her arms had embraced him as well. He spoke gently into her ear.

"It's all right; just relax a minute."

As he said this, one of his hands wandered around to her small breast—still developing, but very much there. As his fingers began to trace her nipple, Kaoru winced ever so slightly. She had explored herself downstairs a little bit, but she'd never played with her chest before—this was a new sensation, one that was being thrust upon her very suddenly.

"H-hey, cut it out…" she mumbled, not very convincingly. She didn't actively stop him from continuing, however, and before long, his head had craned down to the point that he could start to work on her chest with his mouth. Just as he started to do so…

 _ **NAB!**_

Kaoru had him in a headlock.

"C-cut it out, I said!"

* * *

"Sorry… I do have the habit of pushing people a little past their comfort zone," Zero bowed in apology. "But… I wasn't going to go any further than that, honest."

"Yeah, sure," Kaoru scoffed, "I'll bet every guy says that."

The two now sat opposite one another, still naked and in the bathroom, but not nearly so close as they had been a moment ago. Zero was in a repentant position; Kaoru's arms were crossed.

"So, um… are we done, then?" Zero asked, raising his eyes to meet her gaze. "I can get out if you want me to."

"Now hold on," Kaoru scolded. "I ain't done with you yet."

Both of them were sitting cross-legged, meaning Kaoru's legs were wide open; the reaction this caused between Zero's open legs was not wasted on her. She leaned in close to get a better view, now taking the dominant role between them. She may have been tomboyish, but she was still a teenaged girl.

"It's shiny," she noted. "Is that 'cuz of the soap?"

"It just looks like that when it gets big enough," he explained.

She prodded it with her foot, not bothering to ask permission, then with a finger. Finally, curious about the texture, she grabbed it with her hand, being exceptionally delicate as she did so. From the way she handled it, it seemed like she thought it was made of rice paper.

"You don't need to be _that_ gentle," he told her. "It's hardier than it looks."

"…eh?" Kaoru was suddenly very aware of the situation she was in, handling his member like this. "It's not… like I'm interested in it or anything."

"I'm interested in yours."

She blushed again, and hushed up. She knew full well she was lying. Silently, she resumed her prodding, curiously.

"It's okay if I squeeze it?" she asked.

"It works better when it's slippery."

"What the hell do you do about that?"

"Well, you could use saliva, or-"

"No way, that's gross!" she barked. "Here, there's some soap…"

As her experimenting continued, she noticed it starting to grow and wiggle, but it never seemed to go anywhere from there, at least not the way she was handling it.

"Is something supposed to happen, or…?"

"It's the same as it is for girls," he told her. "Eventually you reach climax."

"Er… what?"

"You mean you've never…?"

"I've never what?!"

Zero stared at her a moment, obviously surprised. He tried not to show it too much; he didn't want to single her out.

"That's surprising, at your age," he did admit. "That's the part that feels the best, after all." He paused a moment, then leaned in. "Hey, would you mind if I do it for you?"

"D… Do it?"

"What you've been doing for me. I want to show you how it feels."

Kaoru was a beet now. This was moving awfully quickly for her… but she had to admit she was curious, after all he'd been saying. What's more, he was acting so… giddy about it. She wasn't sure why, but the idea of servicing her had Zero sounding as eager as a puppy dog. Could she really say no?

"You're not gonna… y'know… use your thing, are you?"

"Nope."

"Well then why do you care so much?"

"It'll be special. I want to see Kaoru's first time feeling it."

 _What a weirdo_ , she thought. But he was a sweet weirdo, and honest. She trusted his intentions enough.

"All right… but… is it gonna feel weird?"

"It'll feel normal at first," he told her. "But listen… no matter where that feeling goes, I want you to let it keep happening, okay?"

"Er… okay…"

That wasn't much to go on, but Kaoru decided to have faith. Zero's face fell into the little tuft between her legs, and all at once, her head was swimming. Having someone else do it for her was way different from doing it herself—and a mouth was way different from fingers. It felt good… really good. It wasn't just the physical sensation, either, but the fact that Zero was the one doing it for her—that he wanted to do it for her. His muscular arms craned around her back, supporting her, as she found her legs wrapping around his torso instinctively.

After a few moments, she felt something rising. It was a strange, unfamiliar feeling, and a little bit scary. All at once, Kaoru felt like she was no longer in control; her body was a runaway vehicle, and she didn't know where it was going or if it would stop. But… this was what Zero had told her about. As much as she wanted to get off the ride, she had promised to ride it out. And so, she trusted him, and the feeling kept getting bigger, and bigger, and stronger, and stronger, until…

" _Ahh…!"_

She let out a noise she hadn't heard from herself before, and her legs tightened around her partner, gripping him fiercely and not letting go for several seconds. At the end of those several seconds, she knew exactly what climax was. It was no wonder he hadn't been able to explain it with words.

Zero waited until her panting had stopped and her grip had loosened. With satisfied eyes, she glanced down at him. He had his big, stupid, triumphant grin on… in the end, he'd gotten exactly what he had wanted.

She supposed she'd have to chalk this up as another loss, then.


	7. Chapter 6: Campaign

"Wait, wait, wait… you want **us?** As in, all three of us? To work with Zero? As… as Powerpuff Z?"

"I'm surprised you'd want to help him at all, Kaoru. Did something happen between you two?"

Momoko and Miyako were both understandably astounded at their friend's proposal. Hearing it from Zero himself would have been one thing, but… Kaoru, going out of her way to assist in his machinations? How had her opinion of Zero gone from so negative to so supportive nearly overnight? Something had _definitely_ happened.

"It's… it's nothing like what you're thinking," Kaoru protested defensively. "He just… really got me to believe in his cause, that's all."

"Yeah?" asked Momoko. "What cause is that?"

"That's, well, er…" Whatever it was, she seemed very shy about saying it out loud. Kaoru was practically mumbling; it took her several tries before she was able to say it properly. "He says he wants to, uh… legalize… nudity."

"That's very down to earth," Miyako remarked in surprise. "I was expecting something much more abstract and philosophical, like changing the human spirit, or something…"

"It's an important first step," a male voice explained. The girls turned around and nearly screamed when they saw Zero standing behind them.

"Stop **doing** that!" Kaoru complained.

"Oh, but it's so much fun."

"What's the deal, trying to get Powerpuff Z involved?" asked Momoko, suspiciously.

"Are you trying to make us your disciples?" Miyako inquired, remembering one of her previous conversations with the strange deity.

"Well… not exactly. I'm trying a more direct approach this time," he explained. "You see, even if one of you agreed to being my disciple, having just one member of a trio flying around in the nude wouldn't really accomplish much."

"Like any of us would agree to that," Kaoru scoffed.

"Though, maybe if it were all three of you, then perhaps…"

 **"NO!"**

Their loud unison said all it needed to.

"Relax, relax," he assured them, "I'm not trying that. Instead, I'd like to make use of Powerpuff Z's popularity, that's all. I'll be speaking to the townspeople directly—all you need to do is be there, to show your support. I'm sure it would be a tremendous help, since the townsfolk trust PPGZ."

"I dunno…" Momoko questioned.

"It's not like we don't already do this sorta thing for the mayor all the time," Kaoru shrugged. "Might as well make some change happen, support a real cause, instead'a the cause of keepin' him in office."

"We have helped him campaign quite a bit, haven't we?" said Miyako with an embarrassed smile.

"I pay better than just snacks and fashion magazines, too," Zero told them. "I'll give you anything you like for helping me out."

"Anything?!" cried Momoko. "Like a perfect boyfriend?"

"My own fashion boutique?!" asked Miyako. Zero leaned back nervously.

"Oof. Those are some tall orders, but I'll certainly try my best."

* * *

"What, what, what? A full stage? And you want it to be broadcast to the whole city?"

"We realize it's a lot to ask, Mr. Mayor, but… it really is a good cause, if you hear him out."

The mayor put a lot of trust in the girlz. He owed them more than the safety of the city—he owed them most of his approval rating. Now, hearing this request over the lab's video telecom system, he was clearly struggling a great deal with the decision of whether or not to support such a bold new movement. He hmm'd and haw'd for no short amount of time before responding.

"Whether or not it's a good cause… what really matters is what the people think," he concluded. "If your speech doesn't change public opinion, it could ruin my chances of re-election," he said candidly.

"I'm only asking that you be present to gauge public reaction," Zero explained. "You needn't formally associate yourself with the cause at all."

"Wha… hey!" Momoko protested. "We've gotta put our names on the line, so why doesn't he?"

"Well, since you asked…" said Zero, "when it comes to winning the hearts of the people, you three are much more popular than the mayor is."

"Hey, now…" The mayor looked very disheartened by Zero's crippling honesty.

"If reception is positive, I hope you'll be able to update city law immediately," Zero said, turning his attention back to the public official. "From what the girlz have told me about this world, even changing laws on the fly is possible for someone in your position."

"Erhem, well, yes… mine is a position of great power and responsibility," the mayor answered, adjusting his jacket and trying to appear as important as possible. He was considering his choices seriously, but still appeared undecided.

"And," added Zero, "even if response is negative, I will offer you my divine powers in service of your re-election campaign. How does that sound?"

"Ooh, really? Er, yes, I mean, very well then. I will attend the speech. If you can sponsor the event yourself, I will help to make the arrangements as a paid public official."

* * *

As the girlz looked around at the stage that had been prepared—the arena, really—right in the middle of town square, they took turns guessing how many people might appear for such a strange event as this.

"I'll bet Zero advertised this as some kind of prophetic revelation, or something," Momoko theorized. "If people hear he's supposed to be a god, they're bound to at least be curious, right?"

"We're outside, though… and all those speakers are aimed out at the streets," Kaoru observed. "I think he's expectin' a lot of people walking by to stop and listen."

"It's amazing he could afford to do all this at all," marveled Miyako. "He's a wanderer, so I guess I just assumed he didn't have a lot of money."

They were already transformed into Powerpuff Z, of course—they had to be for all their public appearances. Until now, though, all such appearances had been for the mayor's sake. This was the first time they were doing it for someone else—though since Zero had paid the city for all of this, they might have been recruited for it even if it hadn't been a personal favor. The mayor, meanwhile, was seated inconspicuously towards the back of the crowd, to monitor reception.

The stage lights dimmed. The spotlights switched on.

"I think it's starting," Momoko whispered.

Center stage, a blurred silhouette began to pixelate into existence out of thin air. After a couple of seconds, it took a humanoid appearance—Zero's, albeit in a strange, glowing form the girlz had never seen before. The glow died down and there stood Zero in his regular appearance, naked as ever, but today without any of his genitals. He looked like some kind of strange, life-sized plastic doll.

 _Usual over-the-top entrance,_ Kaoru thought, eyes rolling.

Shocked whispers filled the crowd, along with murmurs of confusion and at least one whistle. From a nearby holster, the microphone levitated over to Zero's waiting hand, demonstrating to everyone present the nature of his abilities.

 _I knew it,_ thought Momoko.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he began, "I'm sure many of you are wondering who I am and why I am here. I will not hide this from you. I am a deity, come from far away to visit the people of this world."

He was sure to complement his words with displays of shimmering light and other such flare as he spoke them, in order to further exemplify his divinity. The crowd seemed reasonably impressed.

"Rest assured, this world has treated me kindly. I've even made some new friends since my arrival here," he continued, nodding towards the girlz off to the side behind him. "However, there is one thing that saddens me, which only you, the people, have the power to change. And so I will ask you to release your human bias, broaden your minds for a moment, and consider deeply what it is I am about to say.

"I want you to imagine a world in which the human voice is outlawed. A world in which we might communicate through sign language, or finger snaps, or any other sort of means… but to speak, to sing, to make any sort of utterance with your mouth is obscene, vulgar, a cultural taboo.

"Imagine that this is the way society has been for a very long time. Imagine human history without song, or public speaking… imagine how many masterpieces might never have been, how many stories and traditions might be lost forever. Imagine how it might affect your life. Singing a tune to yourself on the street could see you arrested. Making baby sounds with your child would deem you an unfit parent; your child could be taken away, lest you corrupt him with the obscenity of your voice."

 _Where the hell is he going with this?_ wondered Kaoru.

"I think all of you would agree, as people living in a world where the human voice is perfectly acceptable, even celebrated, that the world I speak of sounds completely and utterly preposterous. The voice is a natural part of being human, one we are all born with. How could it possibly be obscene?

"However… this preposterous reality is exactly what this world, your world, looks like through the eyes of a nudist."

Curious murmurs filled the crowd now.

"The course of history has deemed that the bodies all of us are born with are obscene and ugly, objects of shame rather than objects of beauty. But we _are_ beautiful—all of us. Young and old, male and female, short and tall, fat and skinny. Many of you may not believe that about yourselves, but I ask you… even if you don't see your own beauty, do not stifle the beauty of others. Allow each person the basic freedom to make that decision on their own."

With this, Zero separated to both sides—one male, one female, both of them with full, uncensored human anatomy this time. The crowd became riled up.

"Love yourselves, love others. Legalize nudism."

With this, both Zeros took a brief, respectful bow, and a modest applause was heard sprinkled throughout the audience—hardly full support, but something. The girlz, as per Zero's request beforehand, joined in the clapping with courteous smiles. They had gotten uncomfortably used to the "smile and wave" role since they had become citywide celebrities.

"We will now take questions," the male Zero announced, as the female hovered out over the audience with a second microphone. The audience quieted down as she made her way to each commenter.

"Um, so, just what kind of god are you?" one young lady asked.

He thought a moment. "I can't rightly say there are multiple kinds," he finally answered. "I myself am the god of truth and passion, doing what I am able to spread my virtues across all mankind."

Another commenter, this one an older businessman.

"Yeah, hi," he began. "With all the world's problems, can I ask why your big concern is… this? What about wars, or, or famine?"

"That's something that may be difficult to explain," Zero replied, deeply contemplative. He decided to give it an attempt, regardless. "We gods have our roles. As the god of truth and passion, mine is to ensure that mankind progresses spiritually. In doing so, the world grows closer, resulting in fewer wars and crises. In the grand scheme, this is more effective than my attacking these issues directly would be. I hope that wasn't too long-winded."

"You honestly mean to suggest that being naked can end wars?" a skeptical woman inquired.

"Well, perhaps not end them," Zero smiled. "But respecting the rights of others is always a step towards progress. And more than that, it's important to celebrate what we share—and one of those things is our skin. It helps people remember their shared humanity."

Murmurs of discussion filled the crowd. It seemed, on some level, his speech was working, and his words were reaching them. Then came another hand, this one especially eager.

"Zeeero~!"

"Is that…?" Zero squinted, curious. It seemed his vision was not playing tricks on him after all. "Oh, hello, Ms. Keane."

The mic went to her and the crowd quieted down once more.

"I think this is a wonderful movement," she stated, "and I see that you have the support of the Powerpuff Girls Z, as well!"

Zero turned his gaze back towards his three guests as spotlights fell upon them. The girlz smiled and waved nervously, somewhat embarrassed at the attention.

"But… do they really support you?" she asked, inquisitively. "It _is_ a nudist movement, after all, but… you're the only one not wearing clothes."

 _M-Ms. Keane!_ Miyako thought, embarrassed.

 _What are you saying?!_ Momoko panicked.

 _Are you tryin' to put us on the spot, or what?!_ Kaoru followed.

Various callouts could be heard from the audience members as the crowd filled with discussion once again.

"Hey, she's right. If they really supported the movement, they'd be naked, right?"

"D'you think they sold out? Seems like they're at every rally in the city lately."

"I'll bet they were just paid to be here. I mean, you'd think at least one of 'em…"

"Dude, shut up, you just want to see them naked."

Zero returned to the microphone.

"Well, this movement is about choice, after all… what do you say, girlz?"

All attention fell on the three superheroines, who were blushing at the very idea of stripping in front of all these people. There was no way they could be expected to do something like that… right?

 _This could make or break the presentation, girls,_ they heard Zero say to them, telepathically. _Your identities are secret, so no one will know your real names, or anything._

 _B…but… it's still our superhero reputations on the line!_ Momoko thought back.

 _From the sound of the crowd, your reputations are looking worse if you don't show any real support. A lot of people are starting to think that you're all sellouts. You could still save this, though… why, even if it was just one of you…_

 _Just… one of us?_ Miyako thought. Kaoru swallowed.

"Blossom?" Zero asked over the microphone. She flushed bright red and shook her head violently. She wasn't willing to take the fall. Way too embarrassing.

"Bubbles?" Miyako twiddled her thumbs nervously. She knew she should, but she just didn't think she could bring herself to do it. It was just too far against her upbringing.

"Buttercup?" Kaoru stood motionless for several seconds. She didn't want to… of course she didn't want to. But, at the same time… if it was for Zero… for the girlz… for the city, the mayor… for everyone…

She knew what she had to do.

On trembling legs, Kaoru stepped forward, much to the surprise of everyone present, even Zero. He stepped aside slightly, allowing her more of the stage. She wished he hadn't—it only served to draw even more attention to what she was about to do.

First, she bent down and took off her jet shoes.

 _It's okay, Kaoru,_ she told herself, heart racing. _It's what they expect you to do… Powerpuff Z are supposed to be role models… right?_

Next, off came her gloves and belt. Those were easy. The hard part came next: her outfit. The skirt was attached to her leotard, meaning it was all a single item—getting it off was not only awkward, but she had nothing on under it, so there would be no way to back out once she started. Of course, with her shoes and gloves already off, center stage, crowd watching, she was already committed. Backing out now would be the worst thing she could do for the girlz's credibility. Kaoru had no choice but to continue.

 _They don't know who you are… they don't know who you are…_

She repeated this to herself in her head over and over again as she pulled her arms out of the singlet, stretching the head opening down and around them. After a moment's hesitation, she lowered the tight, spandex-like material down to her stomach, revealing her very modest chest to the crowd. A couple of voices could be heard reacting, but the majority of the audience was surprisingly respectful.

Finally, her last challenge. Paying no mind to how red her face had gotten or how many eyes were on her developing body, she lowered the costume all the way to the floor, pulling her legs through and setting it on the ground beside her with her accessories. She slowly opened her eyes to the crowd. There were over a hundred people looking at her naked body—TV cameras, too, broadcasting to the entire city every bare inch of her. One of their heroes was naked and on display for all to see.

For a long moment, she stood there, silent. The crowd was silent. Zero was silent. Most couldn't believe their eyes. Kaoru felt like she could die, but… she'd done it. There was absolutely no going back now.

"Buttercup, a proud supporter of equal rights!" Zero announced. "Let's give her a hand."

It wasn't only the two Zeros who began clapping, but almost everyone present. The girlz, the mayor, the supporters and the naysayers… Kaoru looked around and was surprised to see that her participation had won quite a few people over. It only went to show the popularity of Powerpuff Z.

"Oh, wow, she looks like she's in middle school."

"Stupid, they're superheroes, they don't go to school… I think."

"Oh, yeah. That makes it less weird, then."

Kaoru blushed as she overheard members of the crowd talking about her naked body. She wished she had shaved what little she had down there. Now Kaoru's body—or, rather, Buttercup's body—would be public knowledge. This was just for the event, right? She wasn't going to have to start fighting bad guys like this… right?

 _Don't worry about that,_ Zero assured her, telepathically. He was smiling at her from afar like an audience member at a recital; Kaoru waved to the crowd awkwardly from her spotlight.

 _There won't be any need for crime-fighting… you were hero enough today._


	8. Chapter 7: At School

With the support of the Powerpuff Girls Z (namely, Kaoru) Zero's movement had proven a success. The mayor was impressed enough with the public response to sign the right to nudism into city law, legalizing its practice throughout Tokyo City. It was a tremendous step, but still only the first of several. Even though the change had been written into law, it didn't mean that public practice would change immediately.

"In other words… just because it's legal now, it doesn't mean anyone is necessarily going to come out as a nudist," Zero explained.

"Well, so what?" asked Kaoru. "You said the whole point was that people would be able to make the choice for themselves, and now they can."

"It's about choice, eh? So does that mean that you _wanted_ to take off your clothes in front of everybody, then?" Momoko teased with a devious smile.

"Th… that was different! I did that because I had to!"

"It was very brave of you," Miyako praised. "You only had to do it because the two of us were such cowards…"

"And I'm so happy you did." Here, Zero displayed a rare outburst of emotion, picking Kaoru up in a big, emphatic bear hug.

"H-hey, easy," she blushed. Zero set her back down.

"You're a beacon of hope," he told her. "If there's anything at all you'd like from me, you name it, and I'll make it so."

 _I've never seen him so happy before,_ Miyako whispered to Momoko. _He's always so calm and controlled._

 _Definitely weird,_ Momoko answered, watching the big guy praise Kaoru. _But seeing this side of him is kind of nice, too._

"Hey, so are you sure Powerpuff Z aren't going to get any flak about what happened?" Kaoru asked. She was worried she might be responsible for something she didn't want to be responsible for in regards to their reputations.

"Response at the rally seemed positive," Zero told her. "Trust me, I have a plan. For now, we just have to have faith in the people's judgement. The Powerpuff Girls Z are their heroes, after all."

* * *

"The Powerpuff Girls Z are a joke!"

That nagging, familiar voice could only belong to one person, and right now, it was filling the classroom and echoing down the halls, much louder than it ever needed to be. Himeko's gossip typically managed to spread throughout the school quickly by virtue of its sheer volume.

"To think, the city's heroes… reduced to stripping for popularity! I mean, how pathetic can you be?"

"When you put it that way, it does seem pretty bad…"

"For sure, for sure."

Two more female students seemed to be agreeing with Himeko—granted, the two of them were more or less her official fanclub, so their support was no surprise.

"I can't believe her," Momoko complained to the girlz on the other side of the room. "Trying to spread that kind of slander… someone oughtta knock her one."

"Calm down, Momoko," Miyako said with a gentle, reassuring smile. "Every issue's going to have its naysayers."

"You guys are totally missing the point!"

"…eh?"

Miyako and Momoko looked over to see Kaoru starting on Himeko, much to their surprise. Usually she, like them, knew better than to give the spoiled little princess the attention she wanted. Kaoru must really be getting invested in the cause… that, or she was really invested in Zero.

"Oh yeah?" Himeko chided.

"Yeah! Powerpuff Z were standing up for a cause. You don't even stand up for roll call," Kaoru retaliated.

"You leave my expensive hydraulic desk chair out of this!"

" _Why does it matter that the chair was expensive?"_ Miyako whispered.

" _It always matters with her,"_ Momoko sighed back.

"I'll bet you don't even know what the event was about, do you?"

"Of… of course I do!" Himeko returned. "It was… er… some kind of commercial, right?"

"Actually, uh, it was about getting rid of that law that says you can't be naked outside," one boy stepped in to say.

"What? Why would they do a thing like that?" asked Himeko, aghast.

"There was this guy who made a speech," a girl remarked. "I don't remember it exactly, but I kinda got what he was saying."

"He said we should have the choice, right?" the boy nodded.

" _This is a surprise,"_ whispered Miyako. _"It looks like some of our classmates were actually convinced by Zero's speech."_

" _A miracle's more like it,"_ said Momoko.

"That's just crazy," Himeko dismissed. "And pervy."

"It's not pervy!" Kaoru shouted.

"Yeah, sure," Himeko scoffed. "Says the girl who came to class naked."

"Urk…!" Kaoru had been hoping Zero had wiped people's memories of that, or something. If he had, he'd done a lousy job of it.

"Hey, that's right…" one student recalled.

"And didn't Ms. Keane mention that Zero guy that day?" another asked.

"Yeah, she did… does that mean you know him, Kaoru?" inquired a third.

 _Not good,_ Kaoru thought. _Zero said onstage he knew the Powerpuff Girls Z. If people find out that he and I know each other, too, they might make the connection. It could blow everything!_

"Er, well, I, uh…" Kaoru started, struggling to come up with a lie. Her improv skills were failing her at a very critical time.

"He does events like that all the time," Momoko stepped in with a quick-witted bluff. "We saw him do one a little while ago, and Kaoru was so impressed she wanted to, uh… try it out for a day."

"Y-yeah, that's it," Kaoru confirmed, shyly. _You don't have to make me sound like some kind of groupie,_ she thought to herself, annoyed.

"If Ms. Keane is friends with that guy, I guess it's no wonder she let Kaoru do her thing," the boy from earlier assessed.

 _Don't… don't say it like that!_ Kaoru thought.

"Hey, Kaoru, so… what was it like?"

"Eh?"

That wasn't a question Kaoru was expecting to hear, especially from another female student. Looking at the girl's face, she seemed genuinely curious, too.

"I get the idea 'n' all, but I don't think I could ever do it…"

"Yeah, me too…" said the boy. "Though, maybe if Kaoru did it again…"

Kaoru ignored the last part. "You guys… really think it's a good idea, making it legal?"

"Well… sure, I guess," one said. "Why not?"

"You're all crazy," Himeko remarked.

"What's the matter?" Kaoru teased. "Usually you're so eager to show off. Got somethin' ugly to hide under all those frills and lace?"

 **"I am a ten!"** Himeko shouted defiantly.

"All right, that's enough," a male voice rang out, catching the attention of everyone in the room. "You both have perfectly lovely bodies. Everyone does, in one way or another. There's no reason to be putting each other down like that."

Kaoru didn't even have to turn her head to know it was Zero spouting his philosophy from the classroom door. But… what the hell was he doing in her classroom at all? Something about this didn't sit well with her.

"Good morning, everyone," he announced, strolling in as if he owned the place. "I assume some of you might recognize me?"

"Zero!" Miyako and Momoko exclaimed.

"It's him…!"

"He's the guy from TV the other day."

"Oh, wow, he really doesn't wear anything…"

Hushed murmurs began to fill the room as the students all busied themselves talking about this or that part of him or his strange personality or what odd rumors they'd heard about the god of TV politics and nudity. At least, that's what he was known as among the cityfolk.

"I'm here as a guest teacher for your first period class," he explained. "Ms. Keane will be returning later this morning. Since I'm sure many of you have questions for me, we'll be spending homeroom on those. So why don't we start this little informal interview, hm? Kaoru, Himeko, take your seats please."

Kaoru snapped back to reality. She hadn't realized it, but both she and the princess were the only ones who had yet to be seated; they were still standing where they had been arguing. The two of them obliged with some slight embarrassment.

"How did you know their names?" one student blurted out.

"I know all of your names, Sosuke," he explained. "I'm a god, after all. Now, hands, please." Several went up. "Yes, you."

"Why are you here today?"

"Well… the short, honest answer is that it's a part of my campaign. Many activists come to schools in order to reach out to young people. I'm sure you've seen some of them that weren't too bad and some that were downright obnoxious, am I right?" A couple of the students snickered at the accurate assessment. "I'd like to show you that it's not so strange having a naked person in the room, is all."

Kaoru had a very bad feeling about this. _Someway, somehow, he's gonna make this about sex… and I'm gonna be dragged into it. I just know it._

Another hand.

"You're sayin' you want everyone to be naked?"

Some giggles were heard. Zero paid no mind.

"That's a choice for everyone to make themselves. I just want them to feel like they have the choice, and not to be ashamed or afraid of judgement."

"C'mon, not everyone looks like you do!"

This shout came from some unknown corner of the room. On one hand, the tone wasn't especially polite, but Zero couldn't help but laugh a little at the inadvertent compliment on his physique. He responded anyway.

"Like I said, you can find beauty in anyone… or anything, for that matter. We gods made the human body, and we're quite proud of our creation. Why can't humans be?"

Surprisingly, the class began to settle down again as students started seriously thinking about that question. Another hand went up.

"Aren't there a lot of perverts out there, though? Isn't it dangerous to be naked outside?"

"That's, well… hmm…" Zero contemplated. "That's a good question. You've brought up a slightly more complex issue. Now how do I explain it…"

He took a moment while the students all awaited his response. Some spiteful students were hoping his reasoning had finally been thwarted, but others were very curious to hear his answer.

"That's really only a problem because humans have worn clothing for so long. It's a can of worms, you see," he explained. "No, that's not quite right… it's more like disinfecting a cut. It stings at first, but it's ultimately necessary. Eventually, once public nudity becomes commonplace, sexual crimes go way down. They're practically nonexistent in nudist colonies, you know."

The students all glanced around at one another, surprised to have received such a thorough answer. None of them had a response for it one way or the other.

"Are there any more questions?"

No hands.

"All right, good, because we're just about out of time for homeroom. Now, for our first period…"

 _Oh boy, here it comes…_ Kaoru thought. _He's gonna pull me up there for something embarrassing, isn't he?_

"It's math, right? Everyone please open up to page 84. Looks like we're on geometry—a personal favorite of mine."

… _eh?_

To Kaoru's great surprise, Zero went on to lead a very normal first period, lecturing on a very normal subject. Just… naked. It caught the other girlz a bit off guard, too. But it was certainly true to what Zero had stated his goal was. It looked like he really was taking his campaign seriously.

Before anyone knew it, class had passed by in much the same way it would have with any substitute teacher. A couple of especially formal young students even thanked Zero for teaching them.

"Oh, one thing before I take my leave for another class," he announced as the bell rang. "I'll be hosting a picnic lunch out on the field today. Anyone who would like to join me is welcome… and with a very special dessert for anyone with the courage to show up au naturel."

He made sure to face the girlz as he spoke this last sentence with a wink and a smile. Kaoru grimaced. _Dessert, right… he's definitely planning something pervy…_

* * *

A "picnic" may have been an understatement. Students all around gawked at the impressive display of fragrant, foreign-looking foods laid out buffet-style for the picking.

"Where'd all this come from?" asked Kaoru.

"Oh, you know, here, there. Some of it's from other countries, some of it's from other worlds, all of it's quite tasty. Help yourself," he motioned. "Oh, but do you mind if I have a taste of your bento?"

"All this, and you want a packed lunch?" Kaoru asked, flabbergasted.

"I've already tried all of this. I'm more curious about what the commonfolk here eat."

 _Commonfolk, he says…_ Kaoru sighed, but handed him her bento. If there was this much food for the taking, it looked like there would be plenty of folks who wouldn't be needing theirs. Following Kaoru's lead, several other students paid the odd toll to partake in the picnic.

"No dice on the special dessert, then?" Zero asked between bites of pickled radish and tuna sashimi. "I thought for sure I'd get you, Kaoru."

"No way," she protested. "If I give you an inch, you'll go and tell everyone I'm the dessert, or something stupid like that."

Zero half-stifled a laugh, minding not to choke, then looked to Kaoru with a goofy grin. "Is that an offer?"

"N… **No!** "

" _Hey, you get the feeling those two know each other?"_ a student whispered.

" _No, no, of course not, don't be silly,"_ Miyako waved back with a nervous smile.

"Uwaa~! L… look at this spread!" Momoko could hardly contain herself. "Is there anything sweet here~?"

"There's some grits and molasses somewhere around here, but aside from that… just the dessert."

"Aww…"

As if to show off what they were missing out on, Zero pulled out a small, elaborate-looking parfait from a nearby cooler. The toppings included all sorts of fancy fruits and candies, and the frozen yogurt's rich, thickly-whipped swirl made it difficult to tell what flavor it was underneath it all.

"Waaa~! Is that it?!" Momoko ogled. Zero took a needlessly photogenic bite.

"The texture is so rich and smooth… it's hard to put into words," he teased. "There's really no way but to taste it yourself."

Momoko looked like she was about to burst into tears.

"Man, that does look pretty good…" Kaoru admitted, weighing her options. After a good several moments, she finally gave in. "All right, screw it. It's not like I've got anything they haven't seen before."

Zero watched as Kaoru casually pulled her shirt up over her head—it really did make her look like a boy. Off came her shorts next, and in only a few seconds, there she was, almost as naked as Zero was.

"All right, one for me."

"Hold on," Zero corrected. "Shoes and socks, too."

"What? Seriously?" Kaoru grumbled. She reluctantly started pulling those off, as well.

"It's an important part of the experience," Zero insisted. "Sitting outside like this, feet in the grass, sun on your skin… that slight breeze wafting by. It really makes you feel at one with nature." As he finished his little bit of exposition, Kaoru finished with hers. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Kaoru accepted the frozen confection and took to it immediately. It really was an amazing little concoction. And… though she wouldn't want to admit it to him, he'd been right about one other thing. It really did feel nice, the elements against her skin like this. This openness, this freedom… was this how Zero felt all the time, she wondered? If so, it was no wonder their efforts to cover him up had failed that first time at the lab.

Kaoru was too enraptured by the whole experience to notice the inquisitive stares of her classmates. Even though they had seen her naked once before, that was a different Kaoru than this one. Last time, it had been uncomfortable, reluctant, and forced; by comparison, this Kaoru looked so peaceful and natural. As if sitting here in her birthday suit right now was nothing odd at all. It made some of the others curious about what it was really like…

…but not as curious as they were about the object standing nearby.

"Z…Zero!" Miyako blushed, a slight scolding tone to her voice. Kaoru snapped back to reality and caught eye of his erection.

"C'mon, man! There're people here!"

Some of the other students, male and female, backed off nervously.

"Oh, settle down, already," Zero told the girlz. "It's something that happens to all boys. Sometimes for no reason at all. Part of being naked is accepting what goes on with the parts of the body you don't normally see." He continued munching on his bento contents indignantly. "It's all right, boys. You don't have to be nervous."

The girlz looked around and noticed that most of their male classmates were awkwardly covering their groins.

"A…All of you?" Momoko stammered.

"Like I said, perfectly normal," concluded Zero, still snacking. "Now stop being so judgemental. This is an environment of acceptance." He motioned for another parfait. "Is anyone else interested…?"

"Hey, can I have another?" asked Kaoru.

"If no one else wants one, maybe you and I will just finish them all."

"W…wait!"

A male student nervously stepped up and started disrobing. He sat himself a couple feet from Zero, opposite Kaoru, so that the god would remain the center of their little group. For several seconds afterwards, there was a poignant, but awkward silence.

"Hey, hey, good show!" Zero congratulated, handing him a parfait. "You've got courage."

With the first step taken, one or two other students began to step forward. None of them were especially thrilled about undressing, of course, but once they realized that in this crowd, it wouldn't make them the center of attention, the task became much easier. With four or five naked people in the grass, it almost started to feel normal, even.

"Oooh…!" Momoko steamed. "That Zero… I know he's baiting me in, but if I don't act fast, those parfaits will be gone forever…!" She turned to her friend. "Miyako, what do you think I should… eh?"

Miyako was already seated neatly beside Zero and Kaoru, wearing nothing but a smile as the three shared some tea.

"Miyako, when did you…?!"

"It really is quite nice once you get used to it."

"Grrr… fine, fine! I won't be defeated! You watch!"

And so, all three girlz had joined in the naked picnic. It was an improbable series of events initiated by an impromptu gathering organized by an imprudent god. Despite the strangeness of the situation, though, as Kaoru sat in the grass, sun streaming down on her, surrounded by friends, she came to realize… moments like this are just what life is about.

 _Maybe I could get used to this after all._


	9. Chapter 8: Final Outing

"Eh? You're… leaving?"

"That's right."

The girlz were gathered around Zero in the lab, the quartet's usual hangout spot, for what they were now finding out might be the final time.

"I feel like I've done all I can do to jumpstart progress in this world. It's getting to be time for me to move on to the next one. There are still so many, many more out there…"

"Yeah, but…"

"So suddenly?"

"I still have some accounts I need to close here in this world. I'll be around about another week, but after that… it'll be goodbye."

Zero had an air of somberness as he delivered this absolution, but the three could tell that he meant what he said all the same. As soon as he had left their presence, the trio gathered around for an important group huddle.

"Hey, we should all do something together before he leaves…"

"Ooh, like a party?"

"Somethin' to remember him by, anyway."

"What should it be, though?"

"Hmm… hey, Miyako, do you think we should take him _there?_ "

"Whaddya mean? Where's 'there?'"

"Oh my, Momoko… that's so bold… but I'll bet he would enjoy it."

"Yeah, yeah, it's right up his alley!"

"Where the hell is 'there?!'"

* * *

"Oh, wow, girls… how did you know? It was very sweet of you to bring me here."

The three girlz, plus Zero, stood in front of an old-fashioned, very rural outdoor hot spring.

"We found it one day while flying over these mountains here!" Momoko boasted.

"And it's mixed, just like it used to be in the old days, so we can enjoy it together," Miyako smiled gently.

"Not that it really matters, you bein' able to turn into a girl and all…" Kaoru shrugged.

"It means a lot, really," Zero insisted. "This will make a great memory for all of us."

* * *

 _Gulp…_

Even after the events of the naked picnic, Miyako and Momoko still had some reservations about undressing in front of the male Zero… but watching him rinse off before entering, cold water trickling across his muscles and dripping down his shaft… that was enough to put their own bodies in the back of their minds. Kaoru wasn't faring much better, but she was witting enough to follow his lead and at least enter the bath with him.

"I'm a little surprised you wanted to come here, Kaoru," Zero told her, sitting beside her in the spring water as casual as could be. By contrast, her nervous blush hadn't left her yet. "I didn't think you were the type to be a hot spring enthusiast."

"Hey, don't go makin' assumptions about me," she told him indignantly. "Just cuz I'm not your typical girly-girl, doesn't mean I don't, er…"

Kaoru trailed off, and things become awkwardly silent for a moment.

"H-hey, come on! What's takin' you?" she shouted to the others.

"Yeah, yeah!"

"Coming~!"

Momoko and Miyako found it easier to undress with Zero outside, and came hurrying out to complete the group. They found their way into the water shortly enough.

"My family used to come here during the summer a long time ago," Miyako told them. "Supposedly, the water is good for your skin."

"Also, also, they make the best handmade mochi anywhere~!" Momoko added.

"I guess that explains why you two were so excited," Zero smiled. "I'm glad you came, too, Kaoru. It wouldn't have been the same without you."

Kaoru burbled quietly in the water next to him. She was cute when she was being shy.

"It's been too long since I've been to a place like this," Zero continued. "I'll have to start frequenting hot springs in other worlds I visit."

"There are hot springs in other worlds, too?" asked Momoko.

"Of course. Worlds vary, but on average I would say there tend to be more similarities than differences."

"So… will you be doing the same kind of work in the next world you go to?" Miyako inquired. "You know, your campaign."

"Nudism, hm? Well… I suppose it depends on what era that particular world is in."

"Era?"

"Why would that be?"

"Again, there is some variance, but for the most part, human society tends to go through a similar pattern in terms of social progress. Some system of belief puts a damper on free thinking for a few centuries or so, then come the minority rights, freedom of sexual orientation, nudity, and so on."

"Hold on, the way you talk, it sounds like you're saying all those things would happen even without you," questioned Momoko.

"That's right. Eventually, they would. I just do what I can to speed things along while I'm in that world. Give the humans a little nudge forward."

"So what comes next, then?" asked Miyako.

"Eh?"

"You say you've been to many different time periods. Have you been to a world that's further in the future than ours? Do you know what the next big civil issue is going to be?"

"That- hm…"

Zero wore his face that told them he was debating whether or not he should share with them what was on his mind. The girlz knew that particular Zero face well.

"This is around the time period I myself came from, so I tend not to venture too far ahead… even _I_ start to feel a little out of place, then. But I've been to a few worlds that have a century or two on this one." He paused again to contemplate. "There's probably not much point in telling you, but if you're really curious… one of the next hot topics after public nudity is… well, sex."

"S…sex?!"

All three of them immediately blushed at the unexpected topic.

"It's all right. I don't expect people of your era to understand, any more than I would expect people from the Edo period to accept women as equals. But… some time after public nudity gains acceptance and falls into reasonably common practice, humans will start to question why society shuns various expressions of sexuality. At that point in history, fetishes and sexuality will become common topics of scientific and sociological research. It will finally be treated as a subject that involves everybody; even those in your age group and younger will be a part of the discussion."

"You mean… everyone on the street's gonna be talking… about sex?" Momoko blushed.

"Well, not exclusively. But it will eventually be as normal a topic as the daily weather," he explained. "You might even pass by a couple making love outside in the same way you'd walk by a couple holding hands today."

"Oh my… I don't think I could ever get used to that…" Miyako expressed.

"You will," Zero assured. "You'll be your grandmother's age by then, and like all humans that age, you'll just have to come to terms with the changing world around you."

"You're even older than that, though," Kaoru teased.

"That's right, and my ability to see from beyond a human perspective is part of what allowed me to transcend humanity, you see."

The girlz all stared at him, lost. This tangent had hit the end of the line.

"So… people will just be doing it wherever, huh?" asked Kaoru.

"And whenever?"

"With… whoever?"

The conversation returned very abruptly to its previous topic. Obviously, the idea of such a world fascinated the three of them.

"Well, not necessarily whoever, but standards will be lower than they are today. In the same way you might now have a friend who likes to practice massage as a hobby, you might have a friend in the future who likes to have sex with her friends just for fun."

"I'm pretty sure that happens now," Kaoru rolled her eyes.

"Sort of. But in the future it will be much more common, more accepted, and much safer. Disease and birth control will have come a long way."

"But still… with just friends?" asked Miyako.

"Why not? When you think about it, sex is just one person making another person feel good. I thought my 'friend who gives massages' analogy was quite apt."

"Yeah, but… you're supposed to save that for someone you love!" argued Momoko. "That makes it better, right?"

"Well, sure," Zero answered. "But tell me… is there a difference between going to lunch with your friends, and going on a lunch date?"

"Well… yeah, of course," Momoko answered.

"What about a movie with your brother versus a movie with your boyfriend?"

"Duh."

"It really doesn't matter what you're doing—it's who you're doing it with that matters. Anything at all you do with a lover is going to be special and intimate, even if you've done it a thousand times with someone else."

"That's-"

Momoko stopped herself and thought about it. There was just no way that could be true. It was too outrageous to consider. But if everything Zero had said _was_ true… maybe that was just her thinking in her own era. Maybe she was a product of her time. Could that be all there was to it?

"Hey, Zero…"

"Eh?"

Momoko snapped out of her daydreaming to see Miyako leaning in curiously towards Zero's body. It wasn't something she had expected to see her usually-formal friend doing.

"If we had met in a different time, then… do you think we'd be doing that sort of thing together?" Miyako asked.

Zero's little friend perked up at the suggestion. This wasn't a side of Miyako he had expected to see, either.

"It's possible," he said. "I certainly wouldn't mind."

"Hey!"

Now Kaoru had to step in.

"What about us, huh?"

"Oh, Kaoru, I didn't realize…" Miyako said.

"Did you and Zero have some sort of… arrangement?" the catty Momoko asked.

"Er… no! No way!" Kaoru protested. "It's just… see…"

She fell silent, looking to Zero in hopes of getting an out. He just stared back at her, curious of what it was she was going to say. No help at all.

"Well… er…"

Kaoru piped down. She didn't have a response to give.

"The two of us may have done some things between friends," Zero explained delicately.

"Aha! I knew it! So you **were** being ecchi!" exclaimed Momoko.

"Wha-what? No!"

"Hey, c'mon," Miyako scolded, "it's okay for them to have done it… isn't that what Mr. Zero just explained?"

"Well, yeah, but…" Momoko quietly protested. Things again fell quiet for a moment. Zero leaned towards Momoko deviously.

"Are you… jealous?"

"N-no! I…" Momoko paused. "Maybe I was just a little… curious, that's all…"

Zero looked around at the three girls. Kaoru was huddling close to him on the right, trying to be subtle in her attempts to feel his muscles one last time. Miyako was staring curiously between his legs. Momoko was alternating between turning away, then turning back to look at him and flushing red again.

 _These three are open books,_ he thought. _I guess I'll have to be the one to break the ice._

"I consider all three of you to be good friends of mine. I want you to know that I wouldn't regret anything that we were to do together."

"Eh? Ehh…?!"

Without waiting for a proper response, Zero reached down and picked up the quiet Kaoru, lifting her out of the water and wrapping her up in his great big biceps. He hugged her tightly to his torso.

"This will be the last time we all see each other. Why not make it memorable?"

All at once, Kaoru realized where she was. It was a nice feeling, being wrapped up by Zero the way she remembered once before… but the way he was holding her above the water, naked in front of her friends…

"H-hey…! Cut it out… They're both looking," she protested, meekly. The feeling of his muscles on her back was clearly making her flustered. It was obvious what she wanted, even if she didn't necessarily want her friends watching.

"Oh, come on," Zero insisted, moving a hand towards Kaoru's groin. "You've always been the trailblazer… why not show them how it's done, one more time?"

Kaoru felt his fingers stimulating her gently as his face nuzzled next to hers. Right now, he was in complete control over her. Kaoru was losing herself into his world. Momoko and Miyako could only stare in intense, longing curiosity as they watched their two friends starting to get intimate before their eyes.

 _She doesn't sound like she really wants him to stop_ , Momoko thought to herself.

 _I wonder if it would be impolite for me to…_ Miyako thought, leaning in closer once again. Zero felt some very delicate fingers find their way to his shaft.

"Eh? Miyako, what are you…?"

Momoko watched with a sort of silent respect as her friend satiated her own curiosity, feeling up and down the length of Zero's manhood like she was searching for some kind of secret button. It turned out not to be much of a secret—the very top elicited the greatest reaction. She moved her face in a little closer, curiously.

"Hey, hold on!" Momoko protested, shoving her way in beside Miyako. "Don't get it dirty or anything… I wanna…"

Momoko pursed her lips, curiously.

"Are you gonna lick it?" asked Miyako.

"D… Don't say it out loud!" Momoko snapped back. "I just wanna know what it tastes like. Er… is it clean?"

"We are in a bath, aren't we?" said Miyako.

"Oh, yeah."

Momoko leaned in once more and pecked the thing with her tongue. Just a poke, at first. That alone didn't give her much of a taste of it, though. After a second, she went in again, this time running her tongue across the length of it, and finally putting the whole end in her mouth, really trying to get a feel for the thing. Zero reacted accordingly.

"What does it taste like?" Miyako asked, curiously. Momoko continued unabated for a few seconds after the question was asked, then finally pulled off with a pop of her lips.

"Nothing, really," she explained. "I thought it would taste bad, but I guess when it's clean, it's not really any different from licking your finger or something. Oh, but it keeps wiggling and changing size… it's kinda funny."

Miyako sniffed it.

"Now it smells sweet," she teased with a smile. "You must have been eating a lot of sweets today, Momoko."

As the two girls had their strangely casual discussion about the taste of penis, Kaoru and Zero had started to get more intense. Their faces had moved into a deep kiss, and Kaoru's passionate motions were getting harder and harder to ignore; when the kiss ended, her panting became audible. She looked ahead to see both her friends staring in curious awe. It was both humiliating and somehow exciting, doing all this right in front of them. They were watching so intently, too…

" _Wow… I never thought I'd see Kaoru like this,"_ Miyako whispered.

" _She's really getting into it… I'm kinda jealous…"_ Momoko returned.

With a final, exaggerated motion, Kaoru came to a climax, collapsing in Zero's embrace and sinking into a resting position over his still-active equipment. He let her bask for a few moments before sinking both of their torsos back into the murky, steaming water, effectively seating her in Zero's lap.

"Was it… was it really that good?" asked Momoko, unable to help herself.

"Don't… don't just ask about it," Kaoru said between embarrassed breaths.

"Don't worry, Kaoru," Miyako assured. "We don't think any less of you."

"Hey, hey… do you think… it'd be okay if maybe we tried it, too?" Momoko prodded.

"Oh my… 'we?'"

"Don't act like you weren't curious, too, Miyako!"

Zero glanced at the two adventurous young girls, then at Kaoru, the bravest of them all. The trio had not only understood a philosophy that was well ahead of their time, but even gone so far as to share it with him in the form of a memory they could all have together. All three of them had managed to surprise him today, and seeing this, Zero couldn't help but smile his fatherly smile.

This world would be left in good hands.

* * *

 **SUBJECT K2  
Result: Extended success**


End file.
